Sweden’s 65,000 nuclear bunkers aren’t enough: Civil Contingencies Agency

Sweden's 65,000 nuclear bunkers aren't enough: Civil Contingencies Agency

File photo of one of Sweden’s fallout shelters. Photo: Adam Wrafter / SvD / TT


Sweden’s nuclear shelters are insufficient to protect the population from a potential attack, according to a new report from Sweden’s Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB).


But it has been 15 years since new shelters were last built, and the population reached the ten-million mark earlier this year, so the country needs to bolster its protection, according to the agency tasked with ensuring Sweden is prepared for a potential attack.

The report, which was put together at the request of the government, recommends that more bunkers with space to shelter a further 50,000 people should be built over a ten-year period starting in 2019. The project is expected to cost two billion kronor, according to the MSB.

The areas set to be prioritized are Stockholm, Norrbotten county in the far north, the island of Gotland, and the Öresund Region encompassing Malmö.

The country has been preparing for potential attacks in other ways over recent years, reintroducing military conscription earlier this year and in 2016 Sweden for the first time in a decade stationed a permanent military force on Gotland, considered a key strategic location in the Baltics and seen by some as a potential target for an aggressive Russia.

Full article: Sweden’s 65,000 nuclear bunkers aren’t enough: Civil Contingencies Agency (The Local)

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